Tag Archives: iss

The skies have called to me since I was very young. Any time I am outside, you can find me constantly looking up toward the heavens. I find beauty in the poetry of the darkness.

As an astronomer, I definitely believe that we are not alone in the universe. That doesn’t mean I think little green men have come to probe humans or mutilate cattle. But I am ever interested in the search for what’s out there.

Last night, as I sat in a driveway in my car, I spotted a small point of light in the north. Immediately, my logical, scientific mind raced to find the answer to what I was seeing. There were no blinking lights, so that ruled out the possibility of a plane or drone. There was no noise, so that ruled out a helicopter.

I thought about how a just few days ago, SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 from southern California and residents here got a first hand look as its trajectory took it over northern Mexico.

However, the Falcon isn’t due for another launch just yet. So, that couldn’t be it.

Then I thought about the upcoming Draconids Meteor shower. But the movement was too slow, and the trajectory was all wrong to be something burning up in the atmosphere.

I pulled out my phone and began to shoot some video. I watched in awe as the object seemed to maintain a course nearly parallel to the ground. It traveled from west to east in the northern sky until it finally faded from view. Once it was gone, I called a friend of mine.

During the course of our conversation about what I had just experienced, it became apparent that what I had witnessed was the International Space Station flying overhead. I checked the website, and sure enough, the time of my sighting and where I saw the object correlated perfectly.

I’d love to tell you that I have memorized the exact location of the ISS and all visible satellites in my head at all times, but that would be a lie. And while I’ve seen the ISS flying overhead in the past, usually that’s because I already checked out when and where it will be visible.

But tonight was different. I wasn’t expecting to see anything other than the usual bright planets and constellations. That’s what I see most nights. And an innocuous evening errand ending in my car in a driveway spotting something moving slowly through the sky was exciting, to be sure.